This invention relates to workbenches, and in particular it relates to a portable workbench incorporating a giant vise.
A portable workbench of my invention, disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,615,087 and an improved portable workbench as disclosed in my pending application Ser. No. 642,742 filed on Dec. 22, 1975 have been in use for some time with growing public acceptance and appreciation of their usefulness. Although the market is extremely satisfied with the utility and convenience of the portable workbenches, I have concluded that it would be desirable to decrease the cost of manufacture and to add certain features of convenience which, taken together, would militate for even greater public acceptance of and satisfaction with these portable workbenches.
In particular, I believe some potential and actual users of these portable workbenches would find it useful to have a means for rapidly closing the gap between the vise members. For example, when the gap between the vise members is at its largest and it is desired to clamp a small or a thin workpiece between the vise members, it is now necessary to wind the screw handles until the movable vise member is near the stationary vice member. Although this operation can be accomplished in a matter of a few seconds, I believe some users would prefer to have the capability of sliding the movable vise member in one quick motion toward the other vise member and thereby eliminate the need for a long hand cranking operation on the vise-operating screw rods.
By providing the capability of angular movement of the quick setting vise member, I find that the other vise member need not be provided with significant angleable capability. The only angleable capability necessary for the other movable vise member would be that needed for the convenience of independently operating each vise operating device independently to move each end the small incremental distance necessary to effect a sufficient clamping force on the workpiece without causing the clamping devices to bind up.